Throughout the winter, the Texas Rangers have been committed to strengthening their pitching staff. They have been looking for depth in their bullpen and starting lineup. But when they learned that Max Scherzer would be sidelined until at least June following back surgery for a herniated disc, their search for pitchers became even more intense.
The Rangers recently signed Tyler Mahle, a right-handed starter, to help with this setback. However, Mahle won’t be available until June, as he is still recovering from Tommy John surgery. Furthermore, it is anticipated that staff star Jacob deGrom will recover from Tommy John surgery in July. This means that Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Dane Dunning, Andrew Heaney, and Cody Bradford will start for the Rangers on Opening Day.
Although not necessarily a starter, Rangers general manager Chris Young acknowledged that the news about Scherzer will probably intensify their efforts to add pitching depth. Pitchers, whether they were multi-inning relievers, hybrid pitchers, or starters, had already been their target. According to Young, this tactic is still in place and might even be improved as a result of Scherzer’s absence.
Jordan Montgomery, a free agent left-hander, is still available to sign, but the team is interested in bringing him back. Additionally, they might decide to re-sign Martin Perez, a left-hander. Young stated that the team may still decide to bring back its free agents from the 2023 campaign.
Young acknowledged that the team had hoped to have a healthy Scherzer at the start of the season when discussing the impact of Scherzer’s absence. Like last year, though, they already knew that they needed depth in the pitching staff. They will continue to prioritize developing depth in their pitching staff, even though it might have an impact on their trade or free agent targets for the balance of the season. Though he acknowledged that they might have fewer depths in the starting rotation, at least in the first half of the season, Young nonetheless voiced confidence in the current group of pitchers.
